Category Archives: Advertising

Poll: What are your Black Friday plans?

The National Retail Federation predicts more than 137 million Americans will shop during Thanksgiving weekend, topping last year’s retail frenzy.

But here in the newsroom the buildup to Black Friday has felt noticeably muted this fall.

Typically we’re inundated by press releases from retailers in November. E-mails pour in from big chain retailers touting extended hours and price-slashing sprees. Local shops give us friendly prods for coverage of Small Business Saturday. Online sellers send constant Cyber Monday reminders.

This year we’ve received a smattering of those promotions, but not the typical deluge. So we’re interested hearing your take on Black Friday.

Have the deals been hyped as much this year as in years past? Is shopping a part of your Thanksgiving week tradition? Do you have other ways you prefer to spend your post-turkey holiday?

Let us know by taking our poll (you can pick more than one answer) or dropping a comment below. And whatever your plans, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

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Local business vies for $20k prize on Thursday

Tad Sooter

A Kingston farm is one of five finalists that will vie for a $20,000 award Thursday during the live finale for Kitsap Bank’s Edg3 fund competition.

Silver Creek Angus was the only Kitsap-based contestant to earn a spot in the finals for the Edg3 Fund, which honors businesses dedicated to growing their communities “economically, socially and environmentally.”

The finale is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Kitsap Conference Center in Bremerton. The keynote speaker will be Combat Flip Flops CEO Matthew Griffin, a former Edg3 Fund finalist who appeared on the ABC show Shark Tank.

A panel of judges will select the winner of this year’s $20,000 top prize, and a $5,000 prize for the contestant that best embodies “the spirit of community.”

The Edg3 Fund finale is part of a slate of events marking Global Entrepreneurship Week in Kitsap.

See the flyer below for additional events:

Travelocity names Kitsap a top 10 destination for beer tourism

Tad Sooter

brew2_21667175_ver1-0_640_480 Kitsap County ranks among of the best destinations in the country for a “beercation,” according to one major travel website.

Travelocity recently released a beer tourism index to assess what areas of the nation are best suited for beer-centric travel.

The index ranks metro areas based on the number of breweries in the area, the availability of rideshare services, air accessibility and the cost of lodging.

Kitsap County (listed as Bremerton-Silverdale) landed at No. 10 on Travelocity’s list of top beer destinations in the small metro area category:

beerdestinations

It’s not a big surprise Kitsap would make this list, considering more than a dozen craft breweries are in business across the county.

Groups like Visit Kitsap Peninsula are already marketing West Sound as a “hops-lover’s heaven.”

Opening date set for DICK’S Sporting Goods in Silverdale

Tad Sooter

dicks DICK’S Sporting Goods plans to open its Silverdale store by the end of the month.

DICK’S will hold “preview days” on Sept. 28 and 29, followed by a grand opening celebration Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, according to a post the store’s website.

Former Seahawks quarterback Dave Krieg will appear at the store from noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 1. You can click here to see additional grand opening promotions.

The athletic and outdoor gear retailer is setting up shop in a 45,000-square-foot space on the west side of Kitsap Mall. About 30,000 square feet was added to the mall’s footprint to accommodate the store.

DICK’S recently announced it would hire about 70 employees to staff the Silverdale location.

This is the first DICK’S store west of Puget Sound.

Kingston-based CB’s Nuts featured in WSJ

Tad Sooter

cbnuts3_18377479_ver1.0_640_480 A simple business strategy landed CB’s Nuts in the pages of The Wall Street Journal.

The Kingston-based company’s peanut butter was featured in art accompanying a story about food makers marketing products that incorporate a small number of ingredients.

It’s hard to get simpler than CB’s Nuts peanut butter, which uses just one ingredient. (Spoiler alert: It’s peanuts.)

“That’s part of the beauty of our products,” said CB’s Nuts President Tami Bowen told me during a recent interview. “They’re really simple, they’re low input, they’re fresh, they’re clean, so they have a really broad appeal.”

cbnuts2_18377478_ver1.0_640_480 Much, much larger corporations are adopting a similar philosophy, according to the WSJ’s Anne Marie Chaker.

Industry juggernauts Hershey Co., ConAgra and General Mills are all pushing products with fewer additives, and using slimmed-down ingredients lists as a marketing tool.

“Instead of burying ingredient lists in the fine print on the back of the package, food manufacturers are trumpeting simpler formulas prominently on the label’s front,” Chaker writes. Read the full story here.

In other CB’s Nuts news, you may have noticed a Northwest-themed mural painted on a storage container outside the company’s Bond Road headquarters.

Malolo Design (also based in Kingston) posted a cool time-lapse video showing the creation of the mural earlier this year:

Bainbridge pizzeria featured on Forbes

Tad Sooter

B0012876307--549344 Forbes.com contributor Micah Solomon interviewed a Bainbridge Island pizzeria owner for an in-depth look at customer service in the pizza business.

That’s A Some Pizza owner Will Grant told Solomon about the importance of maintaining quality service in a fast-paced environment, and how Yelp reviews used to keep him up at night.

Grant also recalled the time his Winslow Way shop received a barrage of prank phone calls from Green Bay Packers fans, all ordering cheese pizzas.

You can read the full interview here.

Sadly, they don’t discuss That’s A Some Pizza’s recent rollout of a beer delivery service.

Port mulling $75k real estate marketing study

Tad Sooter

SAFE Boats remains an anchor tenant at the port — SAFE Boats remains an anchor industrial tenant at the port

The Port of Bremerton is considering paying a consulting firm $75,000 to study how the district can best market its sprawling industrial property to potential tenants.

According to a memo prepared by CEO Jim Rothlin, the goal of the analysis would be to identify the port’s strengths and generate a list of businesses that could benefit from locating there.

“While the Port has many amenities to offer prospective tenants at the Industrial Park, it is critical that we find a way to stand apart from many other location options available to them,” Rothlin wrote in the memo.

Rothlin is recommending a contract with real estate consulting firm Heartland LLC. of Seattle.

The bulk of the $75,000 price tag would be covered by a $49,500 grant the port recently obtained from the state Department of Commerce. The port would pick up the remaining $25,500.

The port commission will vote on the contract during its next meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Bremerton National Airport.

You can read Rothlin’s memo below and find the port commission agenda here.

2016-06-28_Agenda_Packet

Port Orchard coffee shop gets flashy new look

Tad Sooter

The former Cutters Point coffee shop in Port Orchard debuted a flashy new look this month, with help from a Seattle neon company.

The Bethel Road shop has rebranded as YES Please! Coffee. For an eye-catching sign, the shop hired Western Neon, a company that’s created a number of iconic Seattle landmarks, including a remake of the Rainier Beer “R.”

“We have always hoped business would put more energy into Port Orchard,” YES Please! co-owner Devon Raney said in an email. “In an effort to stay current and put our money where our mouth is, we looked to Seattle for the trendy top end sign companies. Western Neon was the obvious choice.”

Western Neon documented the creation of the sign and posted a time-lapse video on YouTube.

Raney said the “YES Please!” name reflects an outlook on life he and his family embraced after Raney lost his vision nine years ago.

“‘Yes’ to Port Orchard, to work, family and friends,” Raney said. “‘Please’ is the approach to humbleness that can disappear with success.”

You can find Yes Please! Coffee and its new neon sign at 4720 Bethel Road SE. See the shop’s Facebook page for more details.

Image via Facebook

Kitsap hotels enjoying spike in demand

Tad Sooter

Kitsap County’s lodging industry has enjoyed double-digit increases in demand and revenue this year, according to a report from an industry analyst.

Through August, demand for hotel rooms was up 14.3 percent from 2014 while revenue increased by 17.5 percent.

Kitsap posted the highest growth in hotel demand of any county in Washington, according to the report from Smith Travel Research, Inc., and summarized in a Visit Kitsap Peninsula news release.

Visit Kitsap Executive Director Patty Graf-Hoke attributed the spike in hotel demand to marketing efforts aimed at attracting more tourists and reducing the county’s dependence on government-related travel.

“We have positioned ourselves in the sweet spot between the Olympic Peninsula and the bright lights of the city,” Graf-Hoke said in the release.

Regional ad campaigns have highlighted Kitsap’s natural setting and recreational opportunities, including its nationally-designated water trails system.

“We have strengthened our message,” County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido said in the release “… I really look at it as us capitalizing on who we are and where we are.”

My compatriot Tim Kelly with Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal recently took a closer look at how hotels are benefiting from the county’s tourist boom. You can read his June story here.

Kitsap Bank awards $20k to pet licensing tech firm

Tad Sooter

A tech company focused on streamlining pet licensing won Kitsap Bank’s $20,000 Edg3 FUND award.

Pawzii, Inc., founded by Bremerton resident Alec Matias, develops software tools for animal licensing programs at shelters and local governments. The company has its headquarters in Seattle. It partners with the Kitsap Humane Society, King County and Seattle Animal Shelter among other organizations.

Matias, a former Zillow employee, said he believe his startup can help increase pet licensing rates by making the process easy.

“We’re just passionate pet people trying to fill this void,” Matias said in a recent interview.

While providing licensing software platforms for organizations, Pawzii.com offers a portal for pet owners to register their animals online. The site automatically files their paperwork with the nearest licensing office. Customers pay a small fee to Pawzii for each transaction.

A panel of judges awarded the inaugural Edg3 FUND small business prize to Pawzii Wednesday at an event in Bremerton.

“They are innovative and truly focused on making a difference in the community in a socially and environmentally responsible way,” Kitsap Bank President Tony George said in a news release.

Pawzii was one of five finalists for the award, which recognizes small businesses that benefit their communities economically, socially or environmentally. The company will use the prize money to expand its technology and scale up its business, according to the release.